NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 05: Kyrie Irving # 11 of the Brooklyn Nets drive against the Utah Jazz … [+]
,
Kyrie Irving missed his third game for “personal reasons” Sunday night when the Brooklyn Nets hosted Oklahoma City and head coach Steve Nash does not know when he will return.
“That’s not something I can answer right now,” Nash said on Zoom pre-game.
Kevin Durant was in the starting lineup after missing three games for Covid-19 protocols. Durant last played in Jan’s loss. 3 to Washington.
“He’s really excited to be back and of course I’m one happy coach,” Nash said of Durant, with an average of 28.2 points and 4.8 assists.
Nash said the team could “learn more” about themselves by getting Durant in the starting line but not Irving, who gets an average of 27.1 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds.
Irving has not publicly discussed why he has missed three games, but one of his former high school coaches told Forbes SportsMoney that Irving appeared to be upset by the week’s events at the Capitol in Washington, DC, and in the case of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.
“I have not spoken to Kyrie, but I find him upset and concerned about what happened this week in Washington and the decision not to shoot any allegations of the police offer on African America. [man] seven times, ”said Chris Chavannes, head coach at St. Patrick’s School in Hillside, NJ
Regarding when Irving was speaking in public, Nash said, “I’m sure you’ll hear from him at some point. ”
Nash said he was not concerned about Irving ‘s absence affecting rhythm or team chemistry.
“I don’t care about Kyrie falling out of rhythm because he’s a great player,” Nash said.
“When he comes back I think he’ll be pretty quick so that’s not a concern. ”